


simple kind of love

by Sour_Idealist



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: (...very late), Crush confessions, F/F, Friends to Lovers Transition Scenes, Kinktober 2018, Kinkwinter, Lingerie, Making Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 10:10:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16972602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sour_Idealist/pseuds/Sour_Idealist
Summary: Jester gets Nott a present. A totally normal present that doesn't have any significance to it at all and isn't about anyone's feelings about anybody.Definitely.





	simple kind of love

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic from my incomplete Kinktober, written for the prompt "lingerie" on what I believe was day 8. Usual warnings for Nott's self-image and alcohol issues, but honestly, this is maybe the fluffiest thing I've ever written. Title from "Say It, Just Say It" by the Mowgli's (their apostrophe).

Nott lay stretched out on her too-big bed and listened to Port Damali rattle past outside the window.

They'd made it alive off the sea, made land at Port Damali, and she had set out to find a room as far from the water as she could get. Some of the others had come too; Caleb was staying at the _Squall Eater_ _,_ keeping watch on the ship and the crew alike, but he had Fjord and Caduceus with him. He'd be fine.

She'd been forced to take a bath earlier, when her mask slipped in the innkeeper's sightline, but he'd only asked her to use the horse-pump and soap, and that wasn't nearly as bad as a bathtub. It took a lot of work to drown under a horse-pump, and no one had ever tried it on her. And at least she didn't reek of salt and seaweed anymore; and now she had a hearth with a fire crackling, and she could stretch out on a bed that didn't move underneath her. And no matter how badly things went wrong, she couldn't fall through the floor into the endless hungry water. That alone meant it was already the best day she had had in a very long while.

“Nott!” That was Jester, rattling the doorknob even before Nott could possibly have answered her. “Noooott, this is your room, right? I know you're in there.”

“Come in,” Nott called, using _mage hand_ to open the door. Jester bounced through it, kicking it shut with one foot and sprawling next to Nott on the bed.

“There's a really big temple to the Archeart up on the hill we should fuck with,” she informed Nott. “If you'll help me, I mean, you're really sneaky, and we were such a good team last time, remember?”

“Maybe we should run away a little faster, this time,” Nott suggested. “But, sure, yes, I'll help. Absolutely. Whatever you need to keep your god happy with you.” And to keep Jester happy, to keep Jester from looking lost and lonesome, from staring at Nicodranas on the map.

“Cool. Oh!” Jester sat straight up, digging into the pink haversack. “I almost forgot, I got you a present.”

“What?” Nott sat up too. “It's not my birthday, that doesn't come around again for ages. Why?”

“Because I saw it earlier and I thought you'd like it,” Jester said, shrugging, and dropped an undyed linen bundle in Nott's lap. “And besides, we have a _lot of money_ now,” her voice dropping deep and delighted on the words, “so I figured, you know, it was probably okay.”

“I – well – thank you, are you sure? You shouldn't have, I mean, I haven't done anything to deserve...” Nott chattered, tugging the package open. Inside was a spill of cream-colored silk, of matching lace and sweet yellow ribbon. “Oh, this is pretty –” The fabric shifted. “ _Jester_.” Her voice cracked. “Is this... um, lingerie?”

“It's just something pretty, you know.” Jester shrugged. “I think it was made for halflings, but I got the seamstress to change a couple things so it would fit you better. I think she had some magic for it.”

Nott squinted at Jester, then down at the delicate silk camisole spread across her lap. “Don't you think that's... a little weird, maybe?”

“People get my mom lingerie all the time, though,” Jester said.

“Yes, but your mother is a lady of – well, I was going to say she's a lady of ill repute but she actually has an excellent reputation, but. She's a lady of the evening, and I'm just – I'm not that kind of girl.” Hesitantly, Nott tried to fold the camisole again. There was other fabric underneath it, other lace, and it was the softest thing she'd ever touched.

“You don't have to take it if you don't want it,” Jester said, shrinking a little. She bit her lip. “I just figured, you know, you could wear it under your clothes or whatever, and it'd be pretty but you wouldn't have to worry about it getting dirty all the time. Because you get dirty kind of a lot.”

“I do,” Nott admitted. “But, look, even if it were on me, it's – what would be the point? Are those stockings? Have you seen my feet? I'd rip right through them –”

“That's what I have mending for, though,” Jester said, frowning. (It made her nose all wrinkled and concerned. Jester had a very cute nose, a little upturned button.)

“Maybe, but still, they're too pretty for me.” Nott smoothed the fabric down.

“You're pretty,” Jester insisted, inching a little closer. “You're really beautiful, Nott.”

“I'm really not,” Nott protested, shaking her head. “I mean, that sounds silly, it sounds like I'm just saying my name, but what I mean is – I mean, look at me.”

“I _am_ looking at you.” Jester made her eyes huge, eyebrows halfway up her forehead. “See?”

“I mean, apparently you're not, because I'm this awful green color and I have just... terrifying teeth, and my face is shaped more like a cat's than a person's, and I'm –”

“ _Shhh._ ” Jester leaned forward, pressing her finger to Nott's lips. Nott twitched, startled, and Jester pulled her hand back. “Shh," she repeated. "Shh! You're _beautiful._ I think you're beautiful. I really really do.” She bit her lip, looking away. Her hands twisted in her lap. “But I'm not your type, though.”

Nott blinked. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Oh, nothing really,” Jester prattled, her hands clenching around her fingers. “I mean, it's not a big _deal,_ okay, like, I got over Fjord eventually, and this time at least I _know,_ you know, so I don't have to wonder and feel stupid or whatever, so that's better, and this is just a normal present, okay, it's just to be friends, so –”

“I – wait, wait, wait, hold on. Hold on!” Nott grabbed at her hands. “Jessie, I – I think I must be misunderstanding something here, because it –” Her voice cracked, pitching high even for her. “I mean, you're not making any sense, it actually –” she chuckled, strained – “it kind of sounds like you have a thing for me, and, I mean, that can't be right, that's just ridiculous –”

“It's _not_ ridiculous!” Jester interrupted, her tail thwacking indignantly against the mattress. “You're _wonderful,_ Nott,” she insisted. “I think you're really pretty. And we have fun basically all the time. Even when things are... really kind of shitty.” Her shoulders hunched. “You make me happy. And I trust you. But I wasn't going to say anything about it, because I already knew you weren't into me like that, and...”

“I –” Nott blinked, and blinked again. Her cheeks were burning, her heart pounding in her ears. Jester looked wilted, a little, and she had a little triangle of deep blue freckles under the corner of her eye, and since they had first met, the very first days, Jester had made Nott feel like she could get something right for once. This was ridiculous, impossible, but –

Nott reached for the flask on her nightstand. Not much, just one swig, as soothing for the familiarity of it as for the alcohol. Enough. Jester watched, shoulders still hunched. Nott set the flask back down and licked her lips. _Nott, the brave._ It was Jester who'd said it first: _maybe there is a comma._

“I don't really _have_ a type,” she said. Her voice wavered. “I mean, my type is people I meet when I'm drunk who are more confident than me. And I like a nice voice.” She bit her lip. “And, um, you have a very nice voice.”

“I'm pretty sure you were sober when we met, though,” Jester said. Her eyes had gone very wide.

“I was,” Nott conceded. “So you're not my type. But I think maybe you're better.”

She wasn't sure what she'd expected, or what she would've expected if she'd thought about it before right now. Not, maybe, for Jester to smile, bright as sunlight and wide as the sky, or for Jester to lean in close to her, until Nott's eyes almost crossed trying to meet her gaze. She stopped there, not quite touching.

“That's me saying yes!” Nott yelped, suddenly not able to stand the quiet. “I – yes, absolutely. Yes. I like you too, you're fantastic, I want to try this, so–”

“Okay, so are you going to kiss me or what, though?” Jester cut her off.

“I – well, all right then!” Nott sputtered, and surged up to kiss her.

Jester tasted like sugar and strawberry, which made sense, because there'd been strawberry doughnuts at breakfast and Jester had definitely stolen an extra half-dozen. Jester's lips were softer than probably any part of Nott's body, and gentle, and she cupped Nott's face in her hands and kissed her back, once, twice, three times, four, all of them dizzy and eager and deep.

“You really mean it, though?” Jester whispered, pulling back to lean her forehead against Nott's. “Because you don't have to, okay. We'll still be friends.”

Nott was breathless already, cheeks hot, her lips tingling in a way that usually meant she'd gotten alchemy ingredients on her flask. But nice.

“I – I really like you, Jester,” she managed. “I admit I hadn't really thought about it, but I mean – we make such a great team, and you're just – the best person. The best. Also, just putting that out there, that felt _amazing._ ”

“Okay, if you're sure,” Jester said. She rubbed her thumb along Nott's cheek, grinning. “I just didn't want you to think you had to sleep with me or anything, like, I totally thought I didn't have a chance with you in the first place so if I still didn't have a chance with you it'd be fine, 'cause we're still friends.”

“Yeah, but this could probably be more fun,” Nott said. Jester was cooler to the touch than most people, but not cold, and with her hands against Nott's face Nott could feel her calluses catch. She liked the calluses. “Hey, Jester, look. You solved the case. And you didn't even need me, this time!” It barely made sense; she did not give a fuck. 

“You _were_ the case, I totally needed you,” Jester scoffed. “Or, I mean, you were the solution, so basically I solved it with you.” She was smiling still, ear to ear; Nott could feel herself doing the same, too wide to hide any of her teeth. And Jester clearly didn't care.“I'm going to just kiss you for the next ten hours, okay?” Jester asked. “I really want to.”

“I thought you wanted me to put on your present,” Nott said, and the look on Jester's face was everything she hoped. (One time Jester's lollipop had hit someone upside the head just as Nott finished casting _hideous laughter._ Jester looked a little bit like that.) Nott wriggled her shoulders happily, toes curling into the bed.

“ _Yes,_ ” Jester said. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, do that!”

“So how does this work?” Nott asked, catching the bundle of lingerie from where it was sliding off the bed between them. “Do you just watch while I put it on, do you go back out and then come back into the room later, what?”

“I think if I just turn around it'll be fine,” Jester said, and bounded off the bed, turning showily away with her hands linked behind your back. “Hurry, I wanna see you.”

“It's really not going to be much,” Nott warned, “but... I mean... I guess you've seen me. Not naked, though.”

“I've seen you naked!” Jester's tail twitched indignantly

“No, you haven't, I had _disguise self_ on at the bathhouse.”

“Ohhh, right, I remember.” Even from the back, Nott could tell Jester's nod was solemn. And adorable. “Have I really never seen you... huh. You're right.”

“Of course I'm right,” Nott said. “I don't... like being naked around people.”

“I mean, I figured that out,” Jester said. “It's kind of why I got the set I did, because like, it's pretty, but it's not really going to be _naked_ naked, just, you know, the fun parts of being naked.”

“That doesn't make... any sense,” Nott said, but she got busy picking out the pieces, and she could actually start to see what Jester meant. There was the camisole on top of the pile, a delicate thing of silk and lace that would  at least cover most of her stomach and ribs, though it left her collarbones bare, and it was only lace straps over her shoulders. No support to it at all, but Nott's breasts were barely there in the first place; she only bothered with a breast band so the whole group wouldn't know when she'd gotten cold. This wasn't going to be any use for _that_ either, but it probably wasn't supposed to be. Nott's stomach was all butterflies, dancing above the usual fear.

Under the camisole were stockings, ones which just kept unrolling and unrolling into thigh-highs. Nott would have to walk carefully or her claws would go right through them – but the silk was double-layered at the toes, maybe more.

“Does lingerie for halflings usually have extra-reinforced toes?” Nott asked, glancing over her shoulder. Jester shrugged, still diligently looking away.

“There are halflings with _really_ nasty toenails,” she said. “But yeah I maybe might've,” voice dipping deep and conspiratorial on the last words, “gotten her to add some stuff, you know, so it'd last.”

“That's very sweet of you, Jester,” Nott said, trying to pretend she wasn't blinking back tears. Only Jester would think about lingerie for goblins. “Very practical.”

“I'm _super_ practical,” Jester said. “Hurry up, hurry up, get into your present!”

“Okay, okay!” Under the stockings were panties, adorned with a delicate yellow bow on the front, and under that a garter belt of matching white. Which, okay, she probably had to have one or her stockings would never stay up, but still, wow. And, under that where Nott hadn't expected to see any more fabric: gloves, the same creamy white, with a slightly different color of yellow ribbon in the trim. Long elbow-length gloves with three fingers on each hand, and just the tips barely cut out, just enough for Nott's claws to slip through safely.

“Jester,” she said, voice shaking a little. “How much did it cost to have these made this quickly?”

“What are you talking about.”

“The gloves,” Nott said. “These don't look like they were made for a halfing, Jester. I'm just saying.”

Jester shrugged, back going stiff. “I mean, you told us you don't like your hands.”

“I...” Nott had to clear her throat, blinking hard. “Jester, this is... probably the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me.”

“I mean I have saved your life a whole bunch,” Jester pointed out.

“This is different.” Nott wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I'm just – I'm just going to put these on, and then I'm going to kiss you again.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, do that!”

Nott shed her clothes quick as she could, tossing them piece by piece into the corner. Pulling the new on took her longer. She started with the camisole, because it covered the most; it settled soft and sweet against her skin. Then the panties, tucking the wild tangles of her pubic hair carefully under the silk; then the garter belt, taking a moment to figure out the buckles. The stockings, which left only a few inches of giveaway green bare on her thighs. Then the gloves, and her claws poking out the tips could almost have been fingernails, grown long on purpose, polished black.

It still... wasn't great. She was still gangly, all mis-proportioned, skin green as rot and tough as leather. The lace lay oddly on her arms, over the mottling of her skin where some of it was sun-darkened. It still roiled in her stomach just a little, unwantable, monstrous.

“You can – you can turn around now, Jester,” she said, biting her lip. “If you want to.”

She kept her eyes on the floor, on her own oversized feet in their soft silk, as Jester turned with a rustle of cloth. Then Jester squealed, ear-shattering, and bounced forward.

“Oh my gosh you are _so cuuute,”_ she said, hands clasped to her face. “Nott, you look adorable, it's amazing.”

“I – if you say so,” Nott said, hunching her shoulders. Jester scooped her up, hands sure and steady on Nott's waist, lifting her to kissing height.

“I _totally_ say so, I'm going to say so all the time,” Jester said, voice dropping deep again. “Can I kiss you again? Because I really want to, okay, you look like a little leafy pastry right now, except you're sexy.”

“That doesn't make _any_ sense,” Nott said. “Yes, please, go ahead and kiss me, that's much better than metaphors.”

Jester did, deep and eager, all quick swipes of her tongue like it had never occurred to her that Nott had fangs. Nott hung on tight to her shoulders and kissed back as boldly as she dared, sucking the sugar from Jester's lips until all she could taste was simple skin. A faint shift and creak made her realize that Jester had brought them to the bed; Nott let her feet fall to the mattress, sinking in, and enjoyed the brief feeling of being taller than Jester, standing astride Jester's lap. Then Jester broke away, pressing a line of nibbling kisses to Nott's throat, down to the very edge of the silk, and all Nott could do was cling to her for balance and pant. Every kiss brushed through her, warm and tingling.

“You're,” Jester whispered against her neck, “so,” another little kiss, sucking just a bit, “ _pretty_ , Nott.”

“I'm – I really don't think so,” Nott gasped, a little dizzy. “Please don't stop doing that.”

Jester _bit_ instead, not hard but hard enough to startle. “Stop saying you're not pretty!” she said, muffled but firm. “You're the _best._ Your eyes look like little lanterns all the time, did you know?” She'd had to lift her head to say all that, but she kept her thumb stroking the line of Nott's neck, over the damp skin, and it was more distracting than Nott had ever imagined that could be, at least from someone she knew wasn't going to try to choke her.

“I – did not know that,” Nott managed, “I – lanterns? What?”

“Yeah, or full moons, all golden and stuff.” Jester kissed the other side of her neck, one-two-three, tingly butterfly kisses. “And your hair has these little greeny highlights in it in the sunlight, and your whole face changes shape when you smile –”

“– because I have fangs –”

“Because you're _cute,_ ” Jester interrupted, punctuating it with another reproving little bite. “And your ears look kind of like palm fronds.”

“Palm fronds?” Nott repeated, a little incredulous, a little breathless with the kissing.

“Yeah, and palm trees are super pretty, so shut up,” Jester said, running her thumb along Nott's ear. That – sort of tickled, and sort of made Nott's breath catch, something shivery running all through her. She clutched at Jester's shoulders, blinking hard.

“Can I touch you too?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, I wanna know what your hands feel like.” Jester didn't wait for Nott, just started yanking at her belt, her corset. “This is maybe going to be a little bit of work, if I'd known this was going to happen I wouldn't've worn all of it.”

“That's all right,” Nott promised, going to work on the laces that bound Jester's sleeves. “Although you could've been taking some of it off while I was putting all of this on, that would've been a good use of time.”

“I was listening to you open your present,” Jester said, catching Nott's mouth with her own again. “That was the _best_ use of time,” she added, close against Nott's lips.

“Well –” Nott was smiling too hard to talk, too hard to think. Jester's outfit was incredibly difficult to get off of her, corset and sleeve-laces and long blue skirt all in the way before she could even get to the chemise. The neckline was loose, though, once the corset and the laces were off; Nott took a speculative look at it, remembered that Jester had _mending_ if anything ripped, and shoved it down off Jester's shoulders. Jester fought her arms free, letting the beautiful frills of her sleeves pool on the bed; and then Nott wasn't thinking about sleeves anymore, because Jester was half-naked in front of her, right there to touch.

“Wow,” she whispered, stretching her hand over one of Jester's breasts, tiny on the expanse of blue skin. (Her hand was cream and black, lace and embroidery, and almost pretty against Jester's skin.) Jester was all plump curves, pudgy and adorable, and the deep-blue circles of her areolae were half the size of Nott's palms, easy to rub at. Nott could feel Jester's nipples pebbling through the thin silk of the gloves.

“Yeah, my boobs are pretty great,” Jester said, arching her back. There was something a little breathless in the brightness of her voice; Nott shimmied a little where she sat, smug and overjoyed, and kept up her slow stroking, enjoying the soft weight in her hands.

“They really are,” she agreed,

“You're so good with your hands,” Jester whispered, skimming her own hands down Nott's back, over her hips. “I mean, except when you're not, but most of the time you really are. I'd kind of wondered how it would – feel. I wondered a lot actually.”

“I hope it's good,” Nott whispered back, like it was a secret, flicking a little bit at one nipple with her thumb. It made Jester squeak, panting a little.

“It's _super_ good, it's amazing.” Jester bit her lip. “Have you done this before?” It was a blurted-out question, hurried and quiet, and Nott blinked and blinked again.

“That's right, because you probably haven't, if Fjord was your first kiss.” She took a deep breath. “Once or twice, but it was never... special, it was just someone who couldn't do any better than me.”

Jester's face scrunched up. “That's awful!” Nott only shrugged.

“It's what it was. It's not as if I really liked any of them anyway, you know, I just... I got lonely. It wasn't like this.” She brushed a lock of hair behind Jester's ear, delicate as handling a tripwire. “So maybe we won't have sex right away, maybe we'll just... do this for a while?”

“That sounds nice,” Jester breathed, and tugged Nott close to nuzzle at her neck. “This is really nice, though. And I totally want to have sex _eventually._ ”

“I... think I can do eventually,” Nott said. “This is – this is really, really nice, Jester.”

“That's because I'm super good at seducing people,” Jester said, nuzzling Nott's throat, her shoulder. Her tongue flicked out, rubbing lace against skin, a delicate wet slide that made Nott shiver.

“I –” Nott began, because this entire thing began with Jester giving her a present of lingerie and not planning in any way to mention she was – attracted to Nott (and Nott's mind still stuttered around the thought). Then she looked at the three freckles on the tip of Jester's nose, the delicate crinkled skin around Jester's eyes, and gave up. “Yes. You're the best.” She kissed Jester again, and then kept kissing her.

Kiss melted into kiss. With the question of sex out of the way it was easier to relax into the touch, to fall into memorizing the precise places that made Jester squeak or sigh, which spots only made her giggle adorably. (Not that that wasn't a prize in itself.) She let Jester ease the two of them down until they were laid out on the bed, Nott resting light over Jester's ribs. Jester's hands wandered in slow easy strokes down Nott's back, over her hips, along her thighs to play with the garters and the lace. Nott combed her claws through Jester's hair, alternating kisses between Jester's lips and the delicate curve of her throat. Somewhere in there – it could have been hours – Nott ended up with her face buried in Jester's shoulder, her eyes prickling.

“Nott?” Jester asked, hand coming to rest in her hair. “Is this still okay?”

“Yes,” Nott whispered, “yes, just – give me a minute.” She blinked, and blinked again. “I'm sorry, this is silly, I just – I didn't think I'd get to have this.” The admission burned in her throat. Jester's arms tightened around her.

“I'm glad I have it with you,” she said, quietly.

“I really – I thought you liked Fjord,” Nott admitted. “I wasn't sure whether to ask...”

“Ennnh...” Nott could feel Jester start to shrug, then twitch back so as not to knock Nott off. “I mean, I liked him, but I liked liking him too, you know? Besides, that was a while ago. And you... you just make me happy, all the time. And then I saw the outfit in the shop and I thought you might like it, and I really wanted you to like it. Plus I knew you would look _so_ cute.”

“I think you're the only one who would think that, Jester,” Nott had to point out.

“Nuh-uh, you are _beautiful_.” Jester kissed her forehead. “Do you want to go back to making out, or do you want to just maybe cuddle for a while?”

“I...” Nott bit her lip and thought it over. “I think I want to cuddle for a while. Let's cuddle.” That would be nice, to lie here, warm and safe and wrapped in silk, and let all of this settle into her mind.

“Kay.” Jester squeezed her tighter, nuzzling Nott's cheek. Nott closed her eyes, shifting a little until she was less on top of Jester, more nestled in the curve of her arm. Just a moment of wiggling, and they fit together perfectly; and maybe it really could be that easy. Jester made things easy.

 


End file.
